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Coroner: West York shooting is a homicide

Police were called to the 1100 block of West King Street before dawn Tuesday.

By Ted Czech, York Daily Record/Sunday News

Posted:
08/26/2014 05:43:45 AM EDT

Front of house at Dewey and West King in West York Tuesday. Paul Kuehnel - Daily Record/Sunday News ( Paul Kuehnel - Daily Record/Sunday News)

Police are searching an area of Poplar Street just west of Richland Street in regard to the early-morning shooting. (Ted Czech/York Daily Record)

Update, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 11:07 a.m.:

An autopsy performed on the body of shooting victim Lancelot Hylton this morning determined the 41-year-old's cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death is homicide, according to York County Coroner Pam Gay.

West York Police continue to investigate the homicide.

Previous report:

Police are investigating the death of a man found dead Tuesday morning on a West York front porch, after reports of shots being fired in the area, according to West York Borough Police.

About 4:45 a.m., police were called to the 1100 block of West King Street, near Dewey Street, where they found the victim.

"We're treating it as a homicide," West York Borough Police Chief Justin Seibel said.

The York County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Lancelot Hylton, 41. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:45 a.m., according to the office.

An autopsy to determine Hylton's cause and manner of death will be performed Wednesday morning at Lehigh Valley Hospital

Police spent several hours at the West King location, collecting evidence and interviewing possible witnesses.

Just before 9 a.m., they shifted the focus of their investigation to West Poplar Street just west of Richland Avenue. Once there, they placed several evidence markers on the ground and began looking through garbage cans.

Residents react

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Sean Kilpatrick, who lives in the same building where Hylton was found, said he woke up to find a man dead in front of his apartment house.

Quincy Banks, 21, of the 1100 block of West King, said he had worked the second shift the night before, came home, and went to bed. When he woke up, he saw police and fire vehicles and thought a house had caught on fire.

Then a friend told him what had happened.

"Now, I'm shocked," he said.

Savannah Clark, 49, of the 700 block of West Princess Street, said she was walking west from her home to a West York grocery store when she came upon the shooting investigation.

"What's this world coming to with all this? I feel for the family, whatever happened," she said. "Get all the guns out of here."

Clark recalled that a few weeks ago, York City Police arrested three men on her block, charging them with illegal gun and drug possession after responding to a shots-fired call.

"It was a mess," Clark said of that night.

Denise Cheetham, 50, of West Manchester Township, said she was visiting her daughter in the 1100 block of West King that morning.

"My daughter called me and said I couldn't come the way I usually do because the roads were blocked," she said. "I was quite shocked, because she said she didn't hear anything. She just saw the guy (the victim on the porch) and didn't hear any gunshots."

Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call police at 717-854-1975 or via their website. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call their TIP LINE @ 717-478-TIPS.